• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.163-177
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• 2013

An instrumented ferry made two transects per day across two current systems which are the North Korean Cold Current and the East Korean Warm Current over the years 2012-2013 from Gangneung to Ulleungdo in the southwestern East Sea. Seawater properties of these transects were measured with high spatial and temporal resolution for an extended period of time. Here the salinity records from the transects with the oceanographic observation data from East Sea Fisheries Institute of NFRDI, AVISO daily current chart and GOCI Chlorophyll-a image in 2012 and 2013 are used to study the time-series variation of salinity at the surface. The high salinity section with the range of 33.15~34.12 occurred on the transect mainly in the middle of eddy, and western boundary of strong northward current from June to October. We can found low salinity waters in both sides of the high salinity section. It is estimated that the western low salinity waters with the range of 30.58~33.20 accompanied by southward current were derived from the NKCC and the eastern waters with the range of 31.30~33.24 accompanied by northward current were derived from the Tsushima Surface Water. The lowest salinity of NKCC is confirmed in this study as 30.36. It is found that the western waters below 33.00 extended extremely toward the east about 110 km area from Gangneung and toward the south around Jukbyon coastal area as a 5~10 m layer. We can find its volume of low saline waters transport is not neglectable compared with that of Tsushima Current region in the western part of the East Sea. In this study we named it as the North Korean Low Saline Surface Water in summer.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.176-187
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• 2015

In this study, we hypothesized that the size of wintering crane population would change due to the climate factors. We assumed that wintering population size would differ by climate values in January, which is the coldest period in year. Especially, White-naped cranes were able to choose wintering site between Cheorwon and other alternative place where snow coverage had low influence, differing from Red crowned cranes. For this reason, we predicted the population size of White-naped cranes would fluctuate according to the extent of snow coverage in Cheorwon. Therefore we used snow coverage data based on MODIS and climate data from KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) that are generally used. We analyzed the crane's population size in Cheorwon in January from 2002 to 2014. The temperature in the Cheorwon increased from 2002 to wintering period in 2007~ 2008 and went down, showing the lowest temperature in 2011~ 2012. With this phenomenon, warmth index showed the similar pattern with temperature. Amount of newly accumulated snow (the amount of snow that fallen from 0:01 am to 11:29 pm in a day) was low after 2002, but rapidly increased in 2010~ 2011 and 2011~ 2012. The area of snow coverage rapidly declined from 2002 to 2005~ 2006 but suddenly expanded in wintering period in 2009~ 2010 and 2010~ 2011. Wintering population size of the White-naped cranes decreased as snow coverage area increased in January and the highest correlation was found between them, compared to the other climatic factors. However, the number of individuals of Red crowned cranes had little relationship with general climate factors including snow cover range. Therefore it seems that population size of the Red crowned crane varied by factors related with habitat selection such as secure roosting site and area of foraging place, not by climatic factors. In multiple regression analysis, wintering population of White-naped cranes showed significant relationship with logarithmic value of snow cover range and its period. Therefore, it suggests that the population size of the White-naped crane was affected by snow cover range n wintering period and this was because it was hard for them to find out rice grains which are their main food items, buried in snow cover. The population size variation in White-naped cranes was caused by some individuals which left Cheorwon for Izumi where snow cover had little influence on them. The wintering population in Izumi and Cheorwon had negative correlation, implying they were mutually related.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.27-43
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• 1992

The purpose of this study is to detect and evaluate the change of urban vegetation of Seoul during 1980s. Large areas covered with agricultural crops or forests were converted to residential and commercial areas, roads, schools, sports complexes, etc. There were also widespreas concerns on the deterioration of the quality of urban vegetation due to severe air pollution, overcrowding of nature parks, and idling of farm lands by land speculators. The image used for this study were MSS(Oct. 4, 1979) and TM(Apr. 26, 1990). The Green Vegetation Index of Kauth & Thomas(1976) was for the analysis. The GVI were resampled with 75$\times$75m grids and overlaid with the jurisdictional boundaries of 22 districts of Seoul. The results were reclassified to 6 classes, class 6 representing grids with the most vigorous vegetation or the best vegetation improvement in 1980s. The finding of this study can be summarized as follows : First, the most vigorous vigorous vegetation, in terms of GVI, of the 1979 image can be found at paddy fields located on alluvial near Han River. Broad-leaf forests located on hilly terrains have higher GVI than conifers located on the upper-parts of mountains. The average GVI of the northern part and southern part of Han River are 3.56 and 3.74, respectively. The main reason why the southern part has higher GVI is that there are more prime agricultural lands. Districts of Kangseo, Yangcheon, and Songpa have the highest percentage of grids of GVI class 6, and the percentages are 3.55 %, 3.47 %, and 2.69 %, respectively. Second, the most vigorous vegetation of the 1990 image can be found at the grass lands of the Yongsan golf club and the Sungsu horse racing track. The GVI of farm lands is lower than forest because most agricultural crops are at the early stage of growing season when the TM image was taken. The size of built-up area is much larger than of 1979. On the other hand, vegetation patches surrounded by developed area become smaller and have stronger contrast to surrounding area. The average GVI of the northern part and southern part of Han River are 3.57 and 3.51, respectively. The main reason why the southern part has lower GVI is the at more large-scale urban development projects were carried out in there during 1980s. Districts of Tobong, Nowon, and Seocho have the highest percentage of class 6, and the perecentages are 16.58 %, 10.14 %, and 8.50% respectively. Third, the change of urban vegetation in Seoul during 1980s are significant. Grids of GVI change classes 1 and 2, which represent severe vegetation loss, occupy 15.97% of Seoul. Three districts which lost the most vegetation are Yangcheon, Kangseo, and Songpa, where the percentages of GVI class 1 are 13.42%, 13.39% and 9.06%, respectively. The worst deterioration was mainly caused by residential developments. On the other hand, the vegetation of some part of Seoul improved in this period. Grids of GVI change classes 5 and 6 occupy 9.83 % of Seoul. Distircts of Jung, Yongsan, and Kangnam have the highest percentage of grids with GVI change classes 5 and 6, and their percentages are 22.31%, 19.17%, and 13.66%, respectively. The improvement of vegetation occurred in two areas. Forest vegetation is generally improving despite of concerns based on air pollution and heavy use by recreationists. Vegetation in open spaces established in riverside parks, large residential areas, and major public facilities are also improving.